Catching my story

Sometimes turning my attention to other things is just what the doctor ordered, and that’s just what I’ve been doing the last few weeks. Putting the polish on my Writing for the Health of It class has consumed my attention and time. But as often happens, turning my attention elsewhere sparked new insight for this project.

In this case, two key discoveries, perhaps key tools, have come from delving back into Christina Baldwin’s book Storycatcher, a book I’d nibbled on previously. Baldwin’s book is rich and multi-layered, and somewhat like a huge pot of soup. Soup is formless and filling. rich with a blend of ingredients. You can’t “get your hands around it” or isolate ingredients, but the blend nourishes you and satisfies your hunger. Even so, on this reading, two concepts popped out that unlocked new direction.

One is the importance of Story as a meta-concept similar to Truth. It took me a long time to grasp the concept of Story as an organizing principle, the lens for viewing experience and making sense of it. Story in this sense isn’t about single events, it’s my sense of self, of who I am. “Big S” Story is composed of individual experiences that may be recounted as “little s” vignette stories. Truly, I’d never thought of Story this way. A new vista has opened. Thank you Christina. This concept is even more important for my class than this project, but it will give new depth and direction to my memoir.

The second concept is that of Family Myths. These are the stories that we tell ourselves about what makes our family special and different. What binds us together (or pushes us apart). I’ve thought of personally defining characteristics, but not collective ones. Another big Aha.

I’m not ready to get back to my narrative just yet. I have another week of intense preparation for the class, and then we’ll devote a bit of time to reveling in fall color. But even if I’m not drafting my narrative, I will be spending some good journal time exploring My Story and our Family Myths. That’s sure to fertilize the narrative and perhaps I’ll even finally “catch my story.”

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5 Responses to “Catching my story”

Interesting post, Sharon. As a family therapist, I encounter so many “family myths” as people unwind their narratives in my office. Memoir writing is not so different, as through our writing we come upon new insights as we look at the cluster of events on our timeline, and as we write about something we thought we knew the “story” about. These new truths and insights arise spontaneously if we are in our right brain and drawing upon our imagination.
I think of small “s” stories as the vignettes I talk about in Power of Memoir, while the overarching unbuilt Story is arriving and finding itself.
Just a few musings…

I love how you share your insights and discoveries. They are so rich and tasty, like that pot of warm soup. Thanks for this”food” for thought.I’ve been in need of some inspiration and this hits the spot!I would love to be in your class.

You don’t have to read her book to get the message about Story, and Family Myths is pretty intuitive — once you think about it. I hadn’t thought about it. The book is a delightful read. I’m fascinated by the way her “story about Story” builds as gradually as the highway across eastern Colorado. It looks pretty flat, but you gradually gain elevation all the way to the mountains. I didn’t realize her message was building until suddenly I came to an overlook.

I always find what you share interesting and, of course,so well written. Sometimes I start with what I think is a story, then my thoughts interfere and it becomes essay. I’ll try to read the book you mention.

Essays are good. Stories organize and focus action and experience. Essays focus opinions, beliefs and values. Each form is equally important, and both are components of Story, as you’ll learn in class.